Pardon Me
Chapter Two: Mystiques Mirror Image
"So, when do we kill her?" Blob questioned.
Mystique slowly turned towards the several hundred pounds of man which stood off to the side.
Her expression portrayed exactly how irritated with him she was. "We don't kill her, Moron ."
"Then why's she here?" Blob demanded. "Why go through-" The large man fell silent when he noticed that Magneto's had had slowly risen.
"She is worth much more to us alive." He spoke with his back to both of them.
"Why-" Blob did not have the opportunity to ask any more questions.
"Blob." Magneto said, gaining the attention of his large crony once more. "You go watch our guest. Tell Pyro I would like to speak with him."
Blob waddled out of the room obediently.
Magneto turned to Mystique.
He hid his unease well enough; to anyone else the slight change in his disposition may have gone unnoticed, but she was far from blind to his moods. Mystique knew Eric was on edge, she could feel it in her skin.
"Is she going to be a problem?" The blue woman asked, moving forward.
"I don't think so my dear. " He paused and a small smile spread across his face. "She is much different than I had expected."
This prompted an inquiring look from Mystique.
"She thought her sister's ability was, I believe her exact words were 'that's awesome'" Magneto said, amused and turned back to the security camera, where he could see John and Audrey talking.
"I think she's going to be a problem." Mystique stated.
"I think he sister is going to be the problem." He replied softly.
Meanwhile in the ten by ten foot steel cage, Audrey stood with her arms crossed-gazing around the completely metal room with slight awe.
"This place is just… cold and creepy." She stated the obvious. "Gross cement walled, warehouse place."
"You don't think your sisters a freak?" John asked suddenly, sounding relatively bitter.
"She's my sister; I've always thought she was a freak." Audrey replied lightly and walked around to the green cot.. She bent down and grabbed it by one of the iron legs and dragged it forward to the side of the cage John sat outside of. Even over the screech of the metal legs grinding against the steel floor. She heard John 'Hmph' at her. That indignant noise was followed directly by the sound of his lighted flicking open.
She paused in the cot pulling and turned to him. "Don't 'humph' me." She said and pulled the cot a little further, so it was only about a foot from the cage bars. "Me thinking my own sister is a freak-" She began and crawled on top of the cot, folding her legs underneath her and looking John square in the eye. "Has nothing to do with her being a mutant."
John gave her an un-convinced look. "Oh really?" He asked, not believing a word.
"Yes really." She told him shortly. Then she looked down a little, thinking sadly. "She should have told me. The fact that she didn't pisses me off a little."
John lifted an eyebrow.
"And the fact she let me get kidnapped pisses me off more." She added and John smirked. "I just wish I could see her, see what she can do… but seriously where I?"
John opened his mouth to say something but the door to his left opened with a slam and Blob entered, jiggling a little.
"Magneto wants to talk to you."
"What about her." John pointed to Audrey.
"I'm supposed to stay with her." Blob snapped and stood by John's chair.
Audrey looked to Blob who was glaring at her.
"Did you have a bad day?" Audrey asked in the way that psychiatrists often do.
"Shut up." Blob said forcefully and Audrey looked scandalized.
"Excuse me?" She asked lightly.
"I said, shut up." Blob repeated.
John stood up and looked between the human pile of flesh and Audrey. Blob was glaring and Audrey seemed only mildly amused.
"Do you treat all of your guests this way?" She asked and braced her feet on the bars of the cage, pushing herself and her cot back away from it with a slight attitude.
"You're not a guest, now shut up."
"If I'm not a guest, what am I?" Audrey asked.
"A prisoner." Blob snapped and she looked to John who gave her the 'he's right' look.
"Oh, damn." She breathed and folded her arms across her chest.
Just when John opened the door and walked out, the last thing he heard was Audrey asking Blob:
"Have you ever tried jazzercising?"
John grinned as the large metal door closed behind him. He flicked his lighter open once while walking down the narrow hallway.
One thing about living with Magneto- every thing was metal. The walls, the floor- the majority of the furniture, everything. It proved to be both uncomfortable and, after two months- very annoying.
His footsteps echoed loudly through the old canning factory. Before long he had found his way to the old security room, where he knew Magneto would be waiting.
"Blob said you wanted to talk." John said, flicking his lighter open.
"I have a job for you Pyro." Magneto told him without turning.
"K." Was John's simple answer. It wasn't as though it was up for discussion. Magneto had a job, he would do it.
"I want you to go get a few of Audrey's things for her. Knowing Charles, it may be a few days before they actually come for her."
"Why that long?" John asked, wrinkling his eyebrows. It made no sense for them to wait. If she were his sister he'd have been here for her already. John reminded himself he did not have a sister.
"He thinks I want him to try and bust in here and rescue her." Magneto responded, turning from the cameras.
"Don't you?" The younger mutant asked. Pawing through his mind and trying to understand Magneto's exact motivation for this entire thing. Nothing he was doing really added up, and the fact that there was a whole other mess of things John didn't know about. Made him a little less sure of Magneto's abilities.
Maybe he wasn't sharing his entire plan because Xavier could just pluck it from their heads? Or maybe he was just going senile?
John's eyes glided up to the old mans dorky helmet.
"I don't want them coming for her, yet." Magneto clarified. "Go, Mystique will be going with you." He ordered, turning away as Mystique left the screen she'd been watching.
Her blue, scaly skin turned soft and caramel as her body height morphed down at the same time. By the time she'd reached John- she was a living breathing replica of Audrey. Everything from the copper hair to a small freckle beside her left temple was in place.
Although she looked like Audrey. The attitude remained a hundred and ten percent Mystique. She walked directly past John. "Let's go." She told him impatiently, as though he were somehow wasting her time.
"What kind of name is Blob?" Audrey asked conversationally, while picking the teal polish from her nails. Blob didn't respond, she knew he wouldn't. He'd finally figured out that the more he told her to shut up, the more she would talk.
What he hadn't counted on, was that she didn't exactly need him to have a conversation.
"I mean, it suits you. Yes." She continued.
"Why you little-" Blob muttered, his eyes narrowing on her. She continued as though he hadn't spoken.
"But I think, Blob is just so Blob isn't it?" She looked up from her nails, and studied him for a moment. "You're more of a Tank really, or maybe a Buddha?"
"Shut up.." Blob growled.
"Though I suppose you wouldn't want people rubbing your stomach all the time. That would get annoying." She wasn't about to let up on him. He'd been rude.
"I said shut up!" Blob bellowed and Audrey almost looked like she was going to for a second. Then, she decided against it.
"I'm just trying to make conversation here..." She told him sweetly and lazed back on her green cot. She couldn't seem to shake the feeling she'd seen Blob somewhere before. Wait a minute…
"You were the one who hit me with a brick!" She screeched, sitting up.
John looked up at the large white building before him. It looked like some kind of hospital more than it did like a school. The architecture was clean and cold.
In front of the school there was a large bronze statue of a girl, a ballerina standing on her toes- her arms reaching for the pale blue sky overhead.
He walked to the statue, studying it silently for a minute before a small flash of gold caught his eyes. At the base of the statue was a plaque. His eyes raked over it silently. 'Vencor School of Ballet'. He made a face and turned to Mystique.
"You have to be kidding me." He really hadn't taken Audrey as the ballerina type.
John flicked his lighter open for the umpteenth time.
"Stop that." Mystique snapped, and John looked over her, glaring. After a moment he obediently pocketed his lighter. Only because he was sure that in a fight- fist to fist, she could kick the crap out of him though.
She gave a dark look, which seemed completely out of place on Audrey's soft face. She then headed up the steps of the building. Before they even walked in they could hear soft reception music playing from within. Nope, no longer like a hospital, more like a mall now.
As they walked into the building, they took in the very businesslike feel of the place. Complete with reception desk and two elevators on either side of the entrance hall.
A small bell dinged as one of the elevators doors opened and a group of thin girls stepped out, gigglng about something. They all stopped dead in there tracks when they saw the carbon copy of Audrey walking next to John.
"Audrey!" One of the girls with bright yellow hair called and Mystique stopped, moving towards the second elevator. She turned to them and smiled.
"Audrey where have you been?" The blonde demanded as the three other girls followed behind her, smiling. She stopped and seemed to notice John for the first time, she smirked at who she thought was Audrey. "Um, Audrey- introductions?." She asked, gesturing from John to the group of girls behind her.
John grinned, looking to Mystique in a way that said 'ha ha. Try to act your way out of this one.'
Mystique glared.
"Oh forget it, I'm Elle." The redhead said and held out her hand to John, he hesitantly shook it. "That's Alexis, Macy, and Jessica."
"Hey." John said, his eyes flickering over each of the girls, who were only about a year or two younger than himself.
"This is John." Mystique said in a tone that showed how bored she was.
"Audrey, could we talk to you for a minute?" Elle asked suddenly.
Mystique raised and eyebrow but allowed herself to be led away by the group of girls, leaving John to stand there alone. He pulled out his lighter and clicked it open and closed a few times.
"Okay, spill." Elle said excitedly glancing at John with his lighter. "I mean he's not like, your type." The other girls nodded in agreement. "He looks like, too much of a bad boy for you."
Mystique stared.
"You stayed out all night with him didn't you?" Elle interrogated what she thought was her friend with all of the enthusiasm only a seventeen year old girl could generate.
Mystique nodded, smiling. If she just went along with whatever the girls said they would leave her alone. Like a wild animal, teenage girls- she learned would sniff you and leave you alone if you played dead.
"Oh- My- God." The one Elle had introduced as Macy said.
"Well, I still don't think he's your type but, go for it. He's a total hottie. We'll let you guys have some alone time." Elle said and walked off, before she was outside though she turned back and shouted. "Mr. McMinn is so P.O'd at you for not being in class today by the way!" With that she was out the door.
John walked over to Mystique his lighter out and clicking once more. She gritted her teeth in annoyance. He chose to ignore it.
"What they want?" He asked.
"To talk about you. They think you're a bad boy kind of hot." She told him, her voice devoid of any humor. "Her rooms on the fifth floor."
John paused and glanced at where the girls had been. "Wait, they thought I was hot?"